Burned - Recap

Scott Crane, a real estate mogul, is drinking heavily and watching the news. A family, two parents and their children Sonia and Dmitri, were killed in a fire. Scott gets a call: it's Rick, the man he hired to set the fire. Rick wants extra money since Scott didn't tell him children could be killed. Scott refuses despite the fact he plans to make a fortune selling the land the house was on. Rick warns Scott that he can find him any time since Scott is agoraphobic and never leaves his house. Scott insists he can go outside any time he wants, but Rick tells him he wants the extra money or he'll pay Scott a visit.

That night, Scott hears a noise downstairs. It seems to be nothing, but he takes a gun out of his strongbox and puts it under his pillow. He tries to get to sleep but the temperature keeps going up. He checks out the thermostat but it's broken. He hears voices downstairs and goes down to find that the TV is on, playing a children's cartoon. He turns it off but it turns on by itself to a news broadcast about the fire. Scott believes Rick is trying to scare him and yells, but gets no response. He hears a whistling noise and goes to the kitchen to find that someone has turned on the gas stove and is boiling water. He turns off the stove but burns his hand. When he tries to run cold water over the burn, hot water comes out of the faucet even on the coldest setting.

Kate Graham, the arson investigator, calls Scott to inform him that they've determined a faulty boiler caused the fire. Relieved that he's gotten away with it, Scott hangs up and then tries to call out, but finds that the wires are cut. Trapped, he tries to leave but can't overcome his agoraphobia. He hears the sounds of footsteps and the lights flicker. Going into the garage to check the fuse box, Scott finds Rick, electrocuted.

Scott wonders what to do with the body and sits down in the garage, then sees the reflection of two children in his car's windshield. Realizing they're ghosts, Scott goes back into the house and tries to negotiate. The doors start to open and shut on their own, and invisible hands turn on the gas knobs on the stove. The fireplace ignites on its own and Scott tries to turn off the stove knobs, but they turn back on. Bracing himself, he manages to get outside and edge around the house to shut off the gas meter, then runs back inside.

There's a knock at the door. Scott answers it and greets... Kate Graham, the arson investigator. She assures him that she's covered up any traces of Rick's arson and wants her money. He tries to explain that Rick is dead and that ghosts are in the house. Kate figures that he's drunk and leaves, warning him she'll want the money soon. Left alone, Scott desperately tries to apologize to the ghosts of Sonia and Dmitri and offer them his own house. They appear but say nothing. Scott tries to leave but the doorknob turns red hot and then sets the door on fire. Scott runs upstairs and takes refuge in his closet, but the fire and smoke close in as the children stand outside the door.

The next day, Kate comes to the burned-down house. Sifting through the ashes, she finds Scott's strongbox with his money. She takes it home and counts it, then lights up a cigarette. She sets the cigarette down and dozes off... and invisible hands push the cigarette onto the money, igniting it. The apartment starts to burn down around the sleeping woman as Sonia and Dmitri look on, smiling.